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Polar bears are having a Netflix-and-chill moment thanks to that Black Mirror episode

By Josh Weiss
Polar bear

WARNING! The following contains plot spoilers for Season 5 of Black Mirror. It also contains NSFW language and some polar bear craziness.

"Sexy" isn't a word one would often associate with the mighty polar bear, but Black Mirror somehow brought the two together in its Season 5 premiere. The episode, titled "Striking Vipers," follows two old friends (played by Anthony Mackie and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) who begin an affair in the totally immersive VR, Mortal Kombat-esque game that gives the episode its name.

When Mackie's character tries to break off the fling (after all, he's married with a child), Mateen's character grows desperate, trying to reignite the passion between their in-game avatars (played by Pom Klementieff and Ludi Lin, respectively). Invited over for dinner one night, he pleads with Mackie to "play" with him again, going so far as to say that he's tried having sex with the computer-controlled avatars, including the bipedal polar bear named Tundra, and it just hasn't been the same.

Black Mirror: Striking Vipers | Official Trailer | Netflix

This leads Mateen II to utter a line that became iconic the very minute it left his lips: "I f***ed a polar bear and still couldn't get you out of my mind."

Black Mirror Netflix Striking Vipers

Of course, Twitter could not remain silent on the deliverance of such a historic phrase, and we've got the best reactions for you below. Indeed, polar bears haven't had this much exposure in pop culture since the pilot episode of Lost!

"Striking Vipers" was written by series creator/executive producer Charlie Brooker and directed by Owen Harris ("San Junipero").

All three episodes of Black Mirror's fifth season are now streaming on Netflix. Nicole Beharie, Topher Grace, Andrew Scott, and Miley Cyrus also appear in the new season. To see what critics have been saying about it, click here.